From my stand point of view, I gave up on the concept of dating while I'm in highschool. All I've seen from my peers is that it centers from a lovely-dovy realtionship where if your datinng = marrage. Plus, I know one of my friends is only dating the girl to have sex with her whole cheating on her behind her back. Also it can cause uneassary emotional and phyiscal distress over impressing him/her. On top of that, college, your bound to go to different colleges. While its possible to go long-distance, in the end its hard to maintain and thus break-up is the only choice.

Adult content is not allowed on CR. I am pretty sure you can understand that photoshopping a hotdog into what happens into the pic you posted while making it maybe funny in a weird way doesn't change the actual content of the pic. The image with the Donkey sadly isn't really okay either despite the fact that it is also clearly fake. So please don't post anything like that again guys.

It's nice. I'm currently taking a break from dating to work on me. I was in a relationship from ages 18-21 and it ended horribly. Took some time and dated again, and I realized I didnt need that in my life and wasnt the most productive thing to do at the moment. So I'm gonna take some time to be on my own and work things out for myself. Dating is fun. First dates are kinda nerve racking but its a fun experience.

If its with someone that you really understand and care about and they get you it can be great. Like how so many others seem to have in mind, it does provide the opportunity for sex that is, at least in my opinion better than a one night stand. On top of that though if the two people are really compatible it will probably have a ripple effect and you'll notice improvements in other aspects of your life. At the same time though if things don't go well it can still have that ripple effect, just in a bad way.

SirFinlandwrote:
So I must ask for the sake of my curiosity, what makes dating so special thst everyone wants in on it?

This is actually a better question than it appears to be. In fact, one-night stands ARE more efficient, which is why most of the animal world relies on love-em and leave-em. However, humans and other apes have a few developmental hurdles that other, stupider, animals don't have to worry about.

We have ridiculously oversized brains, combined with bipedalism, which means that babies are born long before they should be considered "ready", for the sole reason that if they got much bigger they wouldn't be able to get through the birth canal. Infants spend the first postnatal year requiring nearly constant care and attention, and the next three or so years at very high risk of death by accident, disease, or starvation. In other words, our kids are high-investment, and the only way a cavemama could provide for her child and herself was to rely on the help of others. Being pregnant is also very hard on us, btw.

This means that unlike most other male mammals, human males have a limiting resource - the ability to bring food, leading to an interesting gender role reversal. Women, unlike females in other species, are in competition for the best provider, and men, unlike males of other species, have motivation to be choosy. Women evolved flashy, decorative secondary sex characteristics (boobs, etc), and men evolved "provider" characteristics (gift-giving, etc) and lost some of their "defender" characteristics (fangs, etc).

However, women also evolved strategies to extend the time in which men would be willing to provide for them. While most animals display their fertile periods brilliantly (bright red butts, swelling, etc), human females deceptively hide our ovulation. This means that men, who have no biological motivation to provide for some other guy's baby, needed to hang around women for months before they are visibly pregnant. If the man has been able keep other men away from his woman, then he has some reasonable expectation that the child is his, and motivation to continue bringing her food for a few years.

How does that apply to modern humans? Well, we are still wired for this paradigm because reproductive behaviors are so essential to the survival of the species, so don't tend to change much. This is why dates nearly always involve food, and you get to pay for your girl's meal.

Adult content is not allowed on CR. I am pretty sure you can understand that photoshopping a hotdog into what happens into the pic you posted while making it maybe funny in a weird way doesn't change the actual content of the pic. The image with the Donkey sadly isn't really okay either despite the fact that it is also clearly fake. So please don't post anything like that again guys.

It's not about being special, its just something people do when looking for a romantic partner to see if they have similar interests and are compatible with someone before casually starting a relationship. If you're a loner and you're ok with it, then of course your going to think dating is some superfluous unnecessary activity that isn't "special". You're looking for something deep when there really isn't anything deep to it.

There are females that won't get "freaky" with a guy if they aren't dating ( some crappy moral thing) but once your dating then all hell breaks loose and you 2 can do whatever you want.
I just don't like the fact that just because you spend money to go out with someone that your not guaranteeing that "something" is gonna happen down the road. I believe a hoe should be upfront with her "ho-ness" and tell you that if this goes well then there going to give you a "favor" it's 2013 teasing is annoying.

It's just nice to have someone there that will always be there for you when you're sad, happy, angry etc. Whenever I get mad, my girlfriend kisses me and it calms me right down. It is good to have an anchor like that in your life.

A lot of comments on this thread said some very archaic things. Most couples I know go "Dutch" on dates (they split the bill). As for the point of dating, I wonder if you've read romance manga or watched romance anime or an anime that had romance? I think they lay it out pretty clearly in those shows: a spark of interest for another person... Attraction... A feeling of vulnerability... Excitement... Feeling ALIVE... A desire to share everything about yourself and not to hold back... To be freely you, without hesitation and to be accepted as such... And the feeling of elation that THIS PERSON chooses to be with YOU (ego boost).

I find it frustrating that so many people look at dating as a list of pros and cons i.e.: dating could lead to sex but it is expensive and she might want to go to a club and I have this paper due and she's probably going to text me all week evn though I'm super busy and then she'll cheat on me anyway... So why bother with dating?

Grrrr.... Truth is, everyone should look at dating as an opportunity to find their soulmate. It's something beautiful. Stop talking about money. It is irrelevant. If this person likes you for you, they will pay for their own freaking supper.

So as I've lived my life so far, pretty comfortable as a loner, I've noticed in my friends and on the internet a need for a relationship. Hell, right now on this forum there are threads that are related to this topic, like what someone wants out of a bf/gf. So I must ask for the sake of my curiosity, what makes dating so special thst everyone wants in on it?

Oh and I'm not trying to be edgy or anything like that.

Well relationships can be very special but I do agree. A lot of times when people WANT a relationship it's because they feel lonely and think that that other person can make them happy. When a person is not a whole person, as in you are not happy with yourself, then when they get into a relationship usually they don't get what they want. There's nothing wrong with wanting a relationship but if you are so desperate that you date anything with anything of your preference then things will end badly. I mean do I want a boyfriend? Yes I do, but I'm not searching for it because I know the right guy will come before me and you never know he could be around me all the time.